Truth to Power
by maraudergrl3
Summary: AU. James is the Prince of England. Lily's his devoted servant. James must find a fiancée and take the place of his father, the only problem is he is incapable of loving anyone. And then he falls for the wrong girl. JL SBOC RLOC
1. prologue

A/N: Hello and welcome to my first story

**A/N: Hello and welcome to my first story! I have a lot of different stories planned. This is the only AU one. R&R please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Prologue: A Welcoming**

It was ten days after she was born. Petunia was only 18 months old and her father has left a few months before. He said he would be back, but her mother knew better. Ten days old, and she was in trouble.

No one was after her. She didn't have a curse on her. She wasn't deathly ill. _She_ wasn't ill, but her mother was.

Their neighbor, Mrs. Linch, was kind enough to agree to take in Petunia. She had always wanted a daughter, but was never able to have one. She didn't, however, think herself capable of caring for an infant _and_ a newborn. So the poor newborn had no where to stay.

Her mother was in the last stage of lung cancer, a result of all the smoking she had done in previous years. She should be in the hospital, but she did not want her daughters being raised in an orphanage.

Even before her baby was born, she searched for a home for her. But she couldn't find anyone and in a feeble last attempt, she made her way to the palace that belonged to the king and queen. She prayed they would be able to help her.

She arrived there, baby in hands, ten days after she gave birth- a feat only a mother could accomplish. The guards refused to let her in.

Luckily, the Queen was coming back from a charity event. She was going to have a baby herself soon.

The mother explained her situation to the queen, how one of her daughters has a place to stay. How she was going to die. How she didn't want her children in an orphanage.

The queen, sympathetic, took in the little girl. She would train her to be a servant there, but she would be kind to this one. There was something special about her.

The mother gave the queen a picture of her and her husband, so her daughter will always know what they looked like.

"And what's her name," the Queen asked.

"Lily Evans."


	2. an arrival

Summer

Summer. The worst part of the year in Lily's opinion. Not only were there those wretched balls that took place in the castle at least once a week, but most of the staff had summers off, leaving the others with twice as much work. But the very worst thing about the summers was that the Prince's friends were home and spent a lot of their free time at the castle.

Sometimes they could be nice and funny, but most of the time they, and the Prince himself, treated her the same way they treat house elves.

This summer was going to be one of the worst she had because the Prince was searching for someone to marry, so Lily had to deal with many obnoxious girls until he found the right one.

"Lily can you help me with this dress?" Tellulah asked, breaking Lily from her train of thoughts.

Tellulah was working in the castle for a year before Lily moved in and was 15 by the time Lily was there. Despite the age difference, Tellulah and Lily were best friends, probably because they were the only two who worked year round. Lily had other friends as well, but she only saw them on her one day off- the day of the annual spring festival..

The annual spring festival was the only thing Lily looked forward to all year. It took place on the beach and Lily could wear whatever she wanted and act however she pleased and there were no rich people there. It was the only place she felt like she actually belonged. People usually count down to Christmas or their birthdays, but those days were nothing special to Lily (if anything Lily hated Christmas because of the Christmas ball). Instead, Lily counted down to the festival.

But that isn't to say Lily didn't like her job. She really did enjoy it, but sometimes it was too much to handle.

"Of course. The dress is for the Queen, I presume?"

"Who else would I be sewing a dress for? Myself?" The two laughed at her joke and Lily helped Tellulah with the dress until the bell rang.

"I'll get it," Lily said as she ran to the door. She didn't understand why they didn't just hire people to let others into the palace. They had guards at the gates but not the door?

It was Sirius, of course. Didn't he ever go home? It was the first day of the break and he went straight to the castle.

"Good morning Mr. Black. How are you?" Lily said, her smile in place, as she curtsied.

"Lousy. My parents are horrible. But seeing your beautiful face has definitely brightened me day. I haven't seen you since New Year's! How have you been?" He said, as if the two of them were best friends, which they might have been. If Lily weren't his best mate's servant. The Prince and his friends were very shallow when it came to social status.

"I'm the same as I've always been. Nothing exciting ever happens to me. Unless something happens to the Prince, in which case he's probably already told you. I live quite a boring life, you know." It wasn't until after she said this did Lily notice the two suitcases Sirius was holding.

"Are you staying for a few days?" she asked. Sirius and Remus were the only two people Lily knew who were brave enough to randomly show up to sleep there without asking permission from the King and Queen.

"Yes. I stayed with my parents long enough for it to seem like I like them. They can't complain. And if they do… kudos for me."

"Shall I take your luggage and show you to your room then?"

They got to his room and Lily started to unpack his things. There were a lot more clothes than Lily expected (being seventeen Sirius was able to use magic to make them all fit). Lily suspected that Sirius was going to stay much longer than a few days. After a while, Sirius still didn't leave the room.

"Does the Prince know you're here?"

"No. I forgot to ask it I could come. Oh well. It'll be a nice surprise."

Lily would have rolled her eyes at Sirius' stupidity, but she wasn't allowed to. She had to smile at all times, so it seemed like she was always happy and loved working for the Prince. That was the first and most important rule. The Queen was very smart to teach Lily how to behave when she was so little. All the rules were drilled into her head and she never thought twice about them.

When Lily finished packing, she led Sirius to James' room (because he obviously couldn't do it himself) and was finally able to return to Tellulah's small room.

"So let's get down to business," Sirius said as soon as Lily left.

James bent down under his bed and pulled out his shoebox. In the box were hundreds of pictures of girls with their name and general information on the back. The ones with the 'X' on them meant he already dated them and doesn't plan on doing so again.

He poured the contents of the box onto his bed and Sirius sifted though them, once again.

Sirius started putting them in different piles- X's, maybes, no's, and HELL NO! Many fit into the latter.

"None of these girls compare to the girl I just saw," Sirius said sadly.

"Who did you just see?" James asked cautiously. He had a feeling he already knew who Sirius was talking about.

"Lily! You have to admit, she's gotten even hotter since New Year's! I didn't think that was possible… unless she turned into another Tellulah."

"First of all, Tellulah is fifteen years older than you. Get over it. And second of all, will you stop with the whole Lily conspiracy? She is not in love with me nor am I with her. And we never will be in love with each other. In fact, I will never love anyone."

"You don't love your parents?"

James was starting to get slightly annoyed with Sirius. How dare he ask about loving his parents when Sirius _hates_ his parents? "I don't have parents. I have a king and a queen. So, no, I do not love my parents."

"Fair enough. What about me and Remus? And Peter? Do you not love us?" Sirius asked.

"You are my friends. I care for you, but you know I love know one." Sirius should know that James learned that emotions and feelings, like happiness and love, were weakness. James almost always looked indifferent because he was always so emotionless. Why should he change now? _How _could he change now?

"Whatever James. I still know you and Lily will get together. I can feel it."

"You keep believing that Sirius, but I need to find a fiancé and soon. So, if you don't mind, I'm getting back to work."

"Psh. You're no fun sometimes. I guess that's what happens when you have no heart or soul."

"I happen to have a heart AND a soul. I just don't show it off the way you do. I have no weaknesses to show."

"One could argue that having no emotions is a weakness," Sirius said as he continued to place girls into piles.

"That argument would be wrong," James said simply.

"Of course it's wrong."

"I'll never find a girl in time."

"Alright, what about… her," Sirius said, picking up a picture of a pretty blonde with blue eyes.

"Sure, why not? Muggle or witch?"

"Muggle, so no owls."

"James took the picture and studied the girl for a few minutes. She was fifteen years old and the daughter of a nobleman. His parents would approve. He rang his Lily bell and she came running in the room a few seconds later.

It always fascinated him how she could get from one side of the castle to another in a matter of seconds, without apparating.

"Yes sir" she asked.

"I need a date with Lady Samantha Macabee. Make the arrangements," James said.

"Of course You're Highness. Anything else?"

"No, that will be all."

"Yes, sir," she said as she curtsied. "Have a lovely day. You as well, Mr. Black."

"Bye Lily. See you around," Sirius said as she left. "So can Remus stop by later?"

"Later as in?"

"A few minutes."

"You two are going to get me in trouble, you do realize that, don't you? The Queen will not appreciate unexpected visitors. Even if she knows who you are," James said.

"If she gets mad, tell her she should always expect us. That way it will never be a surprise."

"If you say so."

The doorbell rang. James hoped the Queen and King were in a good mood.

"Hello James. Thanks for inviting me," Remus said when he entered James' room.

"I didn't invite you, Sirius did."

"Oh. Well, thanks Sirius."

"That's why I'm here mate. You missed it. We picked another girl for James to date, Sirius said.

"Don't your parents wish for you to get married as well Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Yes. Which is precisely why I'm not getting married. It'll drive them bonkers. Plus, I think 17 is too young an age to get married. No offense, James. It's different for you."

"None taken. I don't want to get married now. I just… have to. Because my dad is getting old and I need to be ready to take over."

"Wow. I mean, I know you're the prince and all, but you've always been James to me," Sirius said. That was why Sirius was his best friend, he never gave him some kind of special treatment. James figured it would be weird for Sirius once he become king.

"Hopefully I'll stay prince for a long time," James said. They began putting the pictures back in the box and started planning for their next full moon adventure.


	3. Author's Note

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in… a while. Ahem. Anyway, I just recently got into a fanfic-y mood again so I'm going to try to update this story AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I already started the next chapter so hopefully it'll be up tonight/tomorrow? Maybe? *crosses fingers* Again, sorry for totally abandoning this story. **

**-Chelsea**


	4. Turkey Sandwiches

**A/N: Happy Father's Day! A new chapter, as promised. It's kind of short, but I just wanted to get something up to keep me motivated **

Shallowness, Lily decided, was by far the worst trait a person could have. She hated how some people only go out with someone because they look nice. Don't they care about their personality or brain? The Prince certainly didn't.

Lily understood that he was incapable of loving anyone, thanks to his mother, but he still _try_ to find someone whose company he'd enjoy. But he only chose girls with looks and nothing to back them up. Then again, the girls he chose never lasted long.

The Prince's newest selection, Lady Samantha Macabee, was not the smartest or nicest of girls. She was very slow and insulted Lily seven times in the 10 minutes they were on the phone. But Lily had no business helping the Prince find a queen. That was all up to him.

"Lily," Queen Serena said when she spotted her. "As you know, we're going to have an end of summer ball. There are a few balls that we will be attending but we are hosting this one so it must be flawless. We have already hired a committee to plan it but I want to make sure you help as well. Any fault, and you let me know immediately. King Richard has allowed an old friend to be the head but I do not trust him with a job this important. That is all."

"Yes ma'am." Lily said with a curtsy.

"How long is Sirius staying?"

"I'm not entirely sure ma'am."

"Well find out," she snapped. "There's going to be a tour in a few days and I do _not_ want him playing pranks on the muggles."

"Of course not ma'am. I'll make sure he's gone before then."

Lily curtsied a goodbye before heading to the laundry room to fold their clothes. It would have been so much easier to use magic to do all her work, but there were muggles in the castle today and she couldn't risk getting caught.

She remembered the first time the Queen told her she was a witch. Lily was just three years old and it was one of her earliest memories. Lily had been learning the rules of the palace for a few weeks so the Queen had been keeping a close eye on her. She remembered when the Queen herself told her that the Royal Family was magical and she casually mentioned that Lily was also a witch.

For a while, Lily thought all the servants were witches and wizards, but they weren't. Most of them knew about their biggest secret and were sworn to secrecy, but Lily was the only witch among them. And they had a lot of servants. It made her feel special, like maybe she would have a bigger purpose when she was older.

Lily thought that, being a witch and the Prince's servant, she would be able to accompany him to Hogwarts. It was, after all, rule number five that she must be wherever the Prince is. And she did get to go. But after one year at Hogwarts, the King and Queen decided that the Prince should stay at the palace. He had no purpose mingling with the commoners on a daily basis.

They had tried again, however, fifth year after the Prince insisted that it was for the best. But when they came home for Christmas, they did not return to Hogwarts. So, both Lily and the Prince were tutored for most of the years they should have been in school.

As Lily folded the laundry, she mused over the friends she had made at school. It was very difficult for her to make friends at first, because she had such a hard task of watching over the Prince. He was a celebrity there, naturally, so she spent most of her time warding everyone off. Once Sirius, Remus and Peter took over protecting him, she was able to make friends of her own. Even then though, she was stuck with the Prince at all times so it made it harder. In the end, she made a few good friends who she still kept in touch with.

Lily was hoping that maybe the King and Queen would let them go to Hogwarts their seventh year, but the odds didn't look good for her. There were too many things going on this year and the Prince had even more responsibilities now that he was older.

"Lily, there you are," Sirius said.

"Hello Mr. Black. How are you," Lily asked, curtseying.

"Hungry. All the good cooks are preparing for some feast. Can you cook me something?"

"Of course Mr. Black. What would you like?" He had only been there for two days but he already started treating her as if she were his own servant. Still, he asked her to cook, instead of commanding it like James does.

"I'll have the turkey you usually make James. He's hungry too, so make one for him as well."

"Where is the Prince? I thought you were in the pool."

"We were. But we got bored so he's taking a shower. You know how he is about hygiene."

Lily's fake smile turned into a real one, not that Sirius could notice the difference. The Prince was constantly making sure that he was clean and healthy. One of the best moments of Lily's life was when the Prince awkwardly asked her not to help him take off his clothes for his shower one day because he finally realized that at fifteen, a fifteen year old female should not be undressing him like that. "Yes. He is big on personal hygiene."

"Just a little bit," Sirius said sarcastically.

Sirius followed her into the kitchen and sat on a stool near a counter.

"So where's Tellulah," he asked.

"I'm not sure. She might be in the gardens."

"Oh."

"She has a boyfriend," Lily pointed out.

"I know."

"So why—"

"Have you ever felt this really strong connection between yourself and someone before? And you can't explain why, but you know that this someone is 'the one'?"

"No. I do not believe I've ever felt that."

"I bet you did," he asserted. "I bet you still do. You just can't admit it because the person you feel this way about seems off limits to you. I'll have you know that no one is off limits, Lily. No one. Not even royalty. Not when it comes to love."

Lily was about to respond when the Prince walked in.

"What are you guys talking about," the Prince asked.

"I was planning your marriage," Sirius said.

"Sirius," James said warningly. "Excuse him Lily. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"It's quite alright, Sir."

"Lily's learned to ignore everything I say," Sirius said.

"Good. What are you cooking Lily?"

"Your special turkey sandwich."

"Mmm. Put extra tomatoes on mine."

"As always, Sir."

She got all the ingredients out and began frying the eggs while she waited for the turkey to finish. A good thing about the kitchens was that it was muggle-proof, so she could use magic in there. Usually there were house-elves in every kitchen but since they were preparing for the feast, they were all in the main one.

"No mushrooms in mine," Sirius said.

"You don't like mushrooms," James asked.

"No. They creep me out."

'Of course they do." James said. "Can I have his mushrooms?"

"Certainly, Your Highness."

"I'm going to try and find Tellulah. Tell me when it's done mate." Sirius got up and left.

"How's your archery coming," Lily asked the Prince as she sliced the green peppers.

"Errr…"

Lily wanted to laugh, but held it back because it would be rude to laugh at the Prince.

"I know I'm not a professional, but if you ever want additional help, I can assist you," Lily offered.

"I don't think anyone can help me at this point. I'm a lost cause."

"There's no such thing as a lost cause. Especially not when it comes to you. I have faith in you."

"You have to say that."

"Perhaps. But I _do_ mean it."

The eggs were done so she mixed them with the diced bagels and tomatoes. "What addition would you like today?"

"Hmmm… what didn't we try yet?"

"We tried just about everything." Every time Lily made the special turkey sandwich (which wasn't really a sandwich considering it wasn't between two slices of bread) they added something to it to try just that once.

"What about chocolate?" James suggested.

"I believe there is a reason I never put chocolate in it."

"But if you add those little muggle things they'll be so small it'll hardly make a difference.I'll barely taste the chocolate."

"Do you mean chocolate chips?"

"Yes!"

"Yes, Sir. Adding chocolate chips." She went to the cabinet and added just a few chocolate chips to the dish. "Would you like me to find Mr. Black for you?"

"Yeah, go do that now."

"Yes, Sir," Lily said, curtseying. She made her way out of the kitchen and rushed toward the serving quarters, where she knew T would be. And where there was Tellulah, there was Sirius. She knocked gently on the door before opening it.

"Pardon, but is Mr. Black in here?" she asked.

"Right 'ere Lily," he said, bounding over to her with a smile on his face.

"Lunch is ready Mr. Black," she said.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed before running past her, nearly knocking her over.

Tellulah rolled her eyes. "That boy is so strange."

"He really likes you."

"I could be his mother. He needs to get a grip. Besides, his parents would never let him marry a servant."

"I think that's half the appeal, to be completely honest," Lily said sympathetically. It was a shame that Sirius detested his parents. Never knowing her own parents, Lily firmly believed that growing up in a healthy family was a precious thing. She didn't blame Sirius at all for his relationship with his parents but it still upset her that he didn't try to fix it.

Tellulah shook her head sadly. "I just hope my constant rejection doesn't actually hurt his feelings. It never really occurred to me before that he might be seriously upset every time I turn him down."

"He thinks you're 'the one'. Or so he says. I don't really understand him to know if he's being genuine or not." There was a silence while they were both lost in thought about Sirius. It was true that Sirius always made a joke of his crush on T, but could it be possible he only did that to cover his true feelings? It was hard to think of Sirius as a deep person, but he definitely had his moments of wisdom.

"I should get back to the Prince," Lily said, breaking Telullah from her reverie. "He might want something else."

When Lily got back to the kitchen, she found James and Sirius racing spoons with magic. She decided against saying anything to them in fear she might offend them so she took to cleaning up the mess.

"Mr. Black," Lily said suddenly. Shocked, Sirius let his spoon come clattering to the floor; he hadn't even realized she entered the room.

"Crap! When did you get here?" he exclaimed.

"Beg pardon, Sir. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just cleaning the dishes when I remembered the Queen wanted to know when you were planning on leaving?"

"Oh. I haven't decided yet."

Lily sighed but there was still a fake smile on her face, as usual. It wasn't her place to tell him he had to leave soon but she also couldn't go back to the Queen and say he doesn't know when he's leaving.

"Why does she want to know?" asked James.

"It's her house," Lily said, shrugging. "She has a right to know."

"That's not the real reason, though, is it?" James was frustrated sometimes when Lily tried to keep secrets from him. Lily's second rule gave James full power over her, so it was only fair that she told him anything the King or Queen may be hiding. It simply wasn't fair that she sided with them over him all the time. "Tell me why she wants to know Lily."

Lily didn't understand his curiosity but she knew she had to tell him. Lying to the Prince was not a good idea. Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal. She just feared that if Sirius found out there were going to be tours, he would stay just to prank the muggles.

"She doesn't want him to disturb anyone."

"Who would he disturb," James asked, confused. Lily wanted to say everyone but refrained from doing so.

"I just need an answer so I can report back to the Queen."

"I'll think about it… maybe if I knew who I could disturb I'll come up with an answer," Sirius said.

It took extra effort to keep her smile in place. Lily knew they were very playful people and didn't think anything of it when they acted like this, but she felt very defenseless and bullied when they ganged up on her like this. They probably didn't even realize the amount of stress they gave her when they would make her choose between the Prince and his parents.

She finally caved. "They're having tours in a few days of the castle. The King and Queen do not want you to interact with the visitors."

An evil grin was beginning to form on Sirius' face and Lily knew that he was already planning ways to wreak havoc amongst the commoners. "Please don't do anything to them Mr. Black," Lily pleaded, smile still intact. "If anything bad happens I'll be the one to blame."

That made his smile falter slightly as he contemplated whether a prank was worth getting Lily in trouble. Lily already knew the answer though. Once Sirius comes up with a prank, it didn't matter who or what came in the way; he was going to go through with it no matter what. She was just going to have to do everything within her power to stop him.

**A/N: Next chapter you get to see James and Samantha (and Lily) go on a date! Woo! Thanks for reading!**


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